The Professional Writer: Getting Ideas; Avoiding Pitfalls

For four decades I've led writing workshops and taught writing classes, both privately and at several universities. The Professional Writer: Getting Ideas; Avoiding Pitfalls is a compilation of things I've discovered writers need to know to be successful. The book is aimed at writers of all genres. The first section, which deals with getting ideas, is based on methods I developed and have been using for years. The second part is about avoiding pitfalls with the purpose of making a writer's work come alive through such elements as using appropriate dialogue, interesting plots, believable characterization and a good sense of setting. The section ends with how to prepare and market your work. An appendix has a sample query letter and proposal. I feel qualified to write the book since I've been published in a wide variety of genres and have been a writing teacher for many years. The book contains lots of examples and illustrations, many of them humorous.